Discrimination lawsuit filed against BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg County

Tuesday

Jun 11, 2013 at 12:30 PM

BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg County violated former employees' civil rights with a criminal background check that has a "disparate impact on black employees and applicants," the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court.

KIM KIMZEYkim.kimzey@shj.com

BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg County violated former employees' civil rights with a criminal background check that has a "disparate impact on black employees and applicants," the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court.The EEOC alleges that "BMW disproportionately screened out African-Americans from jobs, and that the policy is not job related and consistent with business necessity," according to a written statement from the agency.The 69 black claimants were employed with UTi Integrated Logistics Inc., a former BMW contractor, and worked in the warehouse.Sky Foster, a spokeswoman for BMW, said the company could not comment on the specifics of the EEOC complaint because of the pending litigation. The company issued the following statement."BMW believes that it has complied with the letter and spirit of the law and will defend itself against the EEOC's allegations of race discrimination. BMW is a global company with employees in more than 140 countries around the world. We have a strong culture of non-discrimination as evidenced by the company's highly diverse workforce." "The BMW plant in South Carolina employs thousands of people and providing a safe work environment is one of the Company's highest priorities."The former workers passed UTi's criminal background checks. Those checks reviewed convictions within seven years. Claimants, several of whom had worked at BMW for years according to the EEOC, had to reapply for their jobs with a new logistics contractor after BMW ended its contract with UTi.New criminal background checks were performed on about 645 UTi employees and 88 had criminal convictions that violated BMW's criminal conviction policy, according to the EEOC's suit. The new contractor fired the former UTi employees.Seventy of the 88 employees were black, according to the suit, which asserts "BMW's criminal conviction policy operates to exclude disproportionate percentages of blacks."One claimant worked there almost 14 years and was "denied plant access" for a 1990 misdemeanor conviction of simple assault punished by a $137 fine, according to the suit."BMW's policy has no time limit with regard to convictions. The policy is a blanket exclusion without any individualized assessment of the nature and gravity of the crimes, the ages of the convictions, or the nature of the claimants' respective positions," according to the written statement.The suit seeks back pay with interest for claimants, and for BMW to implement policies and programs that provide equal employment opportunities for African Americans, among other stipulations.Staff writer Trevor Anderson contributed to this report.